Marion Co., West Virginia, DHSEM tests new chemical spill equipment on Mon River

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WV News) — The Marion County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) has purchased new river booms to help contain chemical spills that leak into the county's bodies of water.

DHSEM Administrator Chris McIntire said the equipment was purchased recently after an accident led the department and others to improvise a solution when oil started leaking into the water, and he wanted to make sure it didn't happen that way again.

"We had that large spill on the interstate where the tractor trailer caught on fire, and we had a lot of petroleum product leak into the river," McIntire said. "We didn't have the capability to officially go out and stop that spill. We had to do makeshift devices to get it stopped. Out of that incident, we purchased these river booms that are specifically designed for petroleum products."

The department, along with representatives from the Marion County Health Department and the Fairmont Fire Department, performed training with the new equipment on Wednesday afternoon, using a boat attached at each end of the booms to practice catching hypothetical spills, containing them, and moving them to the shore of the Monongahela River.

"If a spill does happen, we can contain it to a certain location and have the ability to clean the spill up and protect the water and river," McIntire said. "They're learning different procedures on how to tow, take different positions, deploy the anchors and how to do it safely. We're trying to see what the capabilities of our boats are to see if we can do it safely, or else we'll need to look into grants or something else. We may need additional equipment."

Marion County Health Department Administrator Lloyd White said that from an environmental health standpoint, having an efficient, practical way of containing a chemical spill in the water is of the upmost importance.

"The goal is to protect the waterways," White said. "There is a lot of traffic on the interstates, and even our rails, with a lot of chemicals. We know that's out there, and if we have an incident, (those chemicals) are probably going to make their way to the waterways. The goal is to deploy the river booms so we can contain, so it doesn't pollute drinking water."

The river booms capture an area up to 200 feet wide, although McIntire said he'd like to get more booms to be able to capture a spill that could span the entire width of the Monongahela River.

McIntire said that having collaboration on this project is important, and he thanked the health department, fire department and more for their commitment to keeping the waterways safe.

"It takes all of us working together to make this work properly," McIntire said. "The water department has sensors and things that they have. Whenever there's a spill, the first responders know about it. We have a texting system that lets the water departments know there is a spill, so they know when to shut down intake systems. ...

"It's a collaborative effort. We're trying to get this done because the common goal is to protect the waterway and these inlets. It's a major effort with everyone to keep the water safe."

Fairmont News Editor John Mark Shaver can be reached at 304-844-8485 or [email protected].

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